Review: From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas

KYLIE: Tijuana WHAT? I should be putting the finishing touches on my valedictorian speech. Graduation is TODAY, and is this a wedding band on my finger.

MAX: It all started with Kylie’s laptop and a truck full of stolen electronics Okay, it was kind of hot, the way she broke us out like some chick in an action movie. But now we’re stranded in TIjuana. WIth less than twenty-four hours before graduation. Awesome.

WILL: Saving Kylie Flores from herself is kind of a full-time occupation. Luckily, I, Will Bixby, was born for the job. And when I found out she was stuck in Mexico with dreamy Max Langston, sure, I agreed to bring thier passports across the border–but there’s no reason to rush back home right away. This party is just getting started.

LILY: I just walked in on my boyfriend, Max Langston, canoodling with Kylie Flores, freak of the century. Still, I can’t completely hold it against him. He NEEDS me. It’s even clearer now. And I’m not giving him up without a fight.

You ever read a book and as you’re reading it you’re thinking ‘OMG, this is a screenplay! It was MADE for the big screen!?’ Well, I don’t think that often but this book, this book IS a movie in book form. It seriously was so visual for me it was like I was reading a movie. And I’m not a big movie person… so if this doesn’t become a movie I’ll be surprised. (And please note that both authors DO actually write screenplays, so maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised.)

This book was absolutely terrific! I was really digging the characters and they felt unique to me. And the story was definitely unlike anything I’ve read before. I felt like everything really did POP and stand out. I loved the whole idea of the story and how it all worked. I liked that the authors brought it all to a real conclusion and didn’t leave much open for us. That part especially felt movie-like. However, I can see that others won’t like that aspect of it and will say they wish it had ended a couple chapters earlier. I love me a good conclusion though, I don’t like having to guess.

Kylie and Max really go on a journey in this book and I loved watching their progression. The book takes place over a period of two days (for the most part) but it worked. Kylie was the studious nerd and Max was the rich guy that wasn’t very nice. But as they were forced to spend time together in the epic adventure (is it an adventure if you don’t choose to be there?) they start to bring out the best in each other and find there’s much more to the other. And we can’t leave out the flamboyantly gay bff Will as he was a pretty awesome character that just brought a bit of life to everything. And he wasn’t just a convenient character for plot development, he had his own stuff going on which I really liked. It made him important to the story without him taking over. I wouldn’t mind a story all about him actually… Oh, and Kylie’s little brother Jake who has aspergers. He had a few little parts from his POV and I thought that added another layer of awesome because how often do we see that? And it helped us really get an idea of what it’s like as well as what Kylie and her family have to go through.

This book is a bit long and I read the e-arc so I wasn’t for sure if parts might be cut out, but looking at the page number it looks like it’s going to be pretty long for the final edition. I didn’t really mind this too much though, it seemed to work for this one cause it never really got boring for me.

I very highly recommend this to more mature YA readers as well as adults look for a good YA contemporary. There was just a little bit of bad language and some sexual insinuation but the content wasn’t too bad.

4.5/5 stars!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

This book qualifies for the YA Contemporary Challenge 2012. For more info click the button.

About Candace

Candace is an eclectic reader that loves young adult and adult books. She also reviews children's and middle grade books because she's the mother of two children. She's been blogging since 2008 and is also the owner and operator of CBB Book Promotions.

I’ve never heard of this book before but it sounds AWESOME! I like books that I can just see in my head like a movie while I’m reading, that’s always fun for me:) Makes sense that this one would have a movie feel given the authors do screenplays as well. Thanks for putting this one on my radar Candace!

I do love when a book is so visual, you can really see it all in your head. When I saw this on NetGalley, I almost got it but, because Disney doesn’t allow download to Kindle and reading a book on the computer hurts my eyes (I read too long!), I didn’t. Guess I’ll have to get it when it comes out! Sounds cute.

I Absolutely loved this book and it took my sooo much by surprise!!! I mean I do like contemporary, but this book totally stole my heart!! I was so emotional while reading it. The whole romance was so wonderfully written and played out. I adored.Every.Second!!

LOL I totally love your review, Candace!! I know the book-that-should-be-a-movie type well, and it’s one of my absolute FAVOURITES because of how awesome and fun and easy to picture they are! And it’s so cool how this book takes place over only two days — that’s probably one reason why the length wasn’t a compromising factor in this one 🙂 And that’s another reason why I’m adore the sound of this book!